1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to stands and containers configured for use with sharp medical instruments. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to stands for holding sharps during medical procedures and relates to containers for safe disposal of the sharps thereafter.
2. Relevant Technology
The potential for transmitting illnesses from bodily fluids of patients to practitioners is of great concern in the medical community. Accordingly, safety procedures and regulations have been developed for the periods before, during, and after medical procedures that involve contact with the bodily fluids of a patient. For example, special protocols are recommended and/or required for handling medical apparatus that have contacted bodily fluids and for the disposal of such medical apparatus.
Sharps can pose a significant risk for transmitting blood-borne illnesses, or illnesses from other bodily fluids, due to their ability to penetrate the skin. The term “sharps” is used herein in its ordinary sense and can include items commonly referred to as “surgical sharps” and “sharps instruments,” as well as any other instrument or device that poses a risk of contaminating an individual by cutting, puncturing, or otherwise penetrating the individual's skin. Sharps can include, but are not limited to, needles, trocars, scalpels, and other implements with points, edges, or other surfaces that can penetrate the skin.
A number of devices have been developed to protect against accidental cuts or punctures from sharps. For example, holders have been designed to temporarily shield sharp points or edges of an instrument between uses of the instrument over the course of a medical procedure. Additionally, specialized containers for receiving and holding used sharps have been developed to provide for safe and simple disposal of the sharps. Certain policies and regulations for the handling and disposal of sharps have also been implemented to make the advantages rendered by such holders and containers more widespread. For example, some regulations require sharps to be discarded in a certified sharps container that cannot be reopened without significant effort or that is otherwise sealed shut to prevent the container from releasing its contents.
Existing sharps holders can suffer from a variety of shortcomings. For example, traditional sharps holders do not provide a mechanism for safely securing sharps for disposal. The holders are generally designed for use as temporary storage devices and do not function properly for purposes of disposing sharps. Proper disposal of sharps that have been inserted into a temporary holder generally can require transfer of the sharps to a separate disposal container, which can be time consuming and can introduce the possibility of practitioner injury if the sharps implement is not handled carefully.
Additionally, existing sharps holders can provide inadequate support for the weight of sharps instruments that they bear. Consequently, the sharps holders are prone to tipping over. Such tipping can cause syringes or other devices stored in the holders to scatter and, in some cases, to break under their own weight.
A further shortcoming of existing sharps holders is that many existing sharp holders provide a fairly small insertion area or areas. During medical procedures, practitioners are often under time and mental constraints, such that focusing on a small target insertion area in which to insert the sharps device can be disadvantageously time consuming and distracting.